This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website

Colombia - Flags for Use at Sea

Last modified: 2003-08-16 by dov gutterman
Keywords: colombia | custom | ensign |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors




See Also:


Merchant Flag (Civil Ensign)

(2:3)
by Zeljko Heimer, 17 May 2001 (According to [pay00])

The flag used by civil ships is yellow, blue, red 2:1:1, with a red bordered blue oval with white eight pointed star in the middle.
Zeljko Heimer, 8 December 1995

According to [pay00] - Civil Ensign (---/C-- (2:3)) - National flag with the blue oval bordered red with eight-pointed white star in the middle. This same flag is hoisted also on diplomatic missions abroad. Surely, this practice is due to avoid confusion with Ecuatorean missions. Also, this flag is not to be confused with the Diplomatic and Consular Flag which is the honourary flag hoisted on ships only to signify that a high diplomatic officer is aboard. Compering to the legislation - Civil ensign shown in Album is having to large the cental emblem.
Zeljko Heimer, 16 May 2001

Article 2 - the merchant ensign of Colombia is as it was established in the decree number 309 of 1980 (sic! maybe 1890?), three meters long and two meters wide, defaced in the middle with an oval shield of blue field encircled with a zone of red (velvet?) five centimeters wide and with a white eight-pointed star in the center, ten centimeters in diameter. The axes of the oval, within the blue filed, are forty centimeters the larger one and thirty centimeters the smaller one.
Paragraph: This should be the ensign used on the ships of the Colombian [Merchant] Marine and on the offices of the Consulates accredited abroad.
Zeljko Heimer, 17 May 2001

There are construction details in the law. Flag is 300 x 200 cm. Blue oval is 40 cm high and 30 cm wide, red ring around is 5 cm.. [zna99] shows it correct.
Ralf Stelter, 17 May 2001

One comment to the putative using the civil ensign by Colombian diplomatic missions: the Colombian embassy in Prague uses the national flag, not the ensign. If the Colombian civil ensign would in fact be used by the diplomatic missions, it is the state flag, isn't it? It should be labelled as -S-/C--.
Jan Zrzavy, 20 and 26 May 2001

This would mean that the role of state flag on land (-S-/---) belongs indistinctly to two different flag. Can it be so?
Antonio Martins, 28 May 2001

Yes. Absolutely. There are many examples of such cases. Remember that the "dot system" is only informative and orientational and many countries have their "specialities" which make often cases of two (or more) flags that could be used (maybe only in certain circumstances) for one of the uses in the "dot spaces".
Zeljko Heimer, 28 May 2001

Columbia has a distinctive civil ensign, apparently because its national flag is too similar to that of Ecuador. Therefore it seems strange that the national flag is said to be also the state ensign, for that would still cause confusion with the Ecuadorian flag. In my opinion, there are two real possibilities: one is that the civil ensign being also the state ensign, the other is that the war ensign being also the state ensign.
Miles Li, 29 May 2001

The civil ensign is distinctive from that of Ecuador as it has a seal while Ecuador uses her plain flag. The state flag of Colombia is plain while that of Ecuador has the Coat of Arms in it. So both do not cause any confusion. The national flags or civil flags - both plain - are flown by the inhabitants of either country. So there will be no confusion as the inhabitants will surely know in which country they live and fly their flag. The civil ensign of Colombia is also a state flag, but only for special occasions, i.e. for embassies, consulates and foreign dependencies of the government, so it should be possibly named "state flag in foreign countries" or "state flag abroad". So the confusion is also avoided. But: The Colombian embassy in Berlin uses the plain flag outside their building, while inside the flag of the ambassador shows the badge. The secretary of the embassy told me: "The badge or seal is stitched onto the flag and it would never be used outside. This flag is the personal flag of the ambassador or any official dealing with Colombian affairs. The flag hoisted outside should normally be with the seal, but is used without as it is distinctive from Ecuador's flag - they use the flag with CoA - and it does not matter which flag - the one with seal or the plain flag - is used." So the flag with seal should possibly be named "state flag abroad, alternate"...
Ralf Stelter, 29 May 2001

What I am really talking about is the State Ensign afloat, not the State Flag on land. If a distinctive civil ensign exists to distinguish Columbia from Ecuador, why not the state ensign?
Miles Li, 29 May 2001

Merchant ships, both in sea and in the air, use the civil engine.  I am not sure about actual custom at see, but they are supposed to fly it, and all commertial aircrafts have it painted (some times with a circle instead of an oval, and many times with a five pointed star).  Here in Bogotá, nobody flies the civil engine, I would dare that very few people would even recognize it.  I can't remember any time I have seen that flag flying from a pole on land, and as I live quite away from the sea, I cannot check right now if it is actually used on boats.
Carlos Thompson, 24 March 2003

Variants


by Jaume Ollé, 27 October 2001


by Jaume Ollé, 27 October 2001

Construction Sheet


by Zeljko Heimer, 17 May 2001

1 unit = 5 cm.


Custom Ensign


by Zeljko Heimer, 23 May 2001

National flag with a large blue border.
Source: Album des Pavillons (1995) [pay].
Ivan Sache, 12 August 1999

According to [pay00] - Customs (2:3) - National flag with blue border (i.e. similar to port capitains flag but with blue border). The blue border in Album 2000 is light blue. Previous Album issues had that border of the same blue as the middle stripe, but similarly with discussion regarding other flags with this "duality" the Album 2000 images are supposedly correct (or more correct then others, it may easily be that in practice the difference is not observed).
Zeljko Heimer, 23 May 2001

Flaggenbuch (1939) already showed the flag. The customs ensign has the same pattern as port capitain, but with a blue border. Anyway, the figures are slightly different: height of the horizontal blue borders: 46 each.
Therefore, the national flag inside the blue border should be 108:204 (figures not mentioned on the image). Its stripes are 50:24:24, from top to bottom. There is something wrong in Flaggenbuch figures in this case!
Ivan Sache, 24 May 2001

In Flaggenbuch the blue border of the customs ensign has the same shade as the blue stripe in the national flag it surrounds. After rechecking the image, I an confirm that Flaggenbuch indeed shows a slightly off-centered Colombian flag in the Port commander's flag. The image agrees with the numbers put on it, and I cannot imagine Neubecker making two mistakes in the same flag.
Ivan Sache, 27 May 2001

Reported Flags


by Jaume Ollé, 5 November 2001


by Jaume Ollé, 5 November 2001

Images according to Flaggenbuch and others inc. Restrepo Uribe.
Jaume Ollé, 5 November 2001


Merchant Ships Whose Captain is Navy Officer (Reserve)

(2:3)
According to [pay00]
by Zeljko Heimer, 20 May 2001

(2:3)
Variant (?)
by Jaume Ollé, 5 November 2001

According to [pay00] - Merchant ships whose captain is Navy officer (reserve) (---/C-- (2:3)) - The same design as the civil ensign with addition of a black anchor in canton. This flag should maybe more simple be called "Reserve ensign" as this is the English term that covers it.
Zeljko Heimer, 20 May 2001